Klopp and Reds back in Germany for CL playoffs

PARIS: Juergen Klopp takes his Liverpool side to his native Germany this week to face Hoffenheim as they target a return to the group stage of the Champions League.

It is three years since the Anfield outfit, five times European champions, last graced the group stage of the continent’s elite club competition.

A fourth-placed finish in the English Premier League last season exposed them to a complicated draw in the playoffs and a pairing with the Bundesliga outfit means a trip to the Rhein Neckar Arena in the first leg today.

Klopp has been to his home country with Liverpool before, overseeing victories against Augsburg and old club Borussia Dortmund en route to the Europa League final two seasons ago.

They were also in Germany during pre-season, beating both Hertha Berlin and Bayern Munich.

The Reds, who began their Premier League campaign with a 3-3 draw at Watford on Saturday, are without Adam Lallana and Nathaniel Clyne at the moment but Roberto Firmino is fit.

The Brazilian is set to face the club for whom he starred for four years before being sold to Liverpool in 2015.

Hoffenheim, from a village of just over 3,000 souls in south-western Germany, finished fourth in the Bundesliga last season to qualify for Europe for the first time.

Brendan Rodgers was the last manager to lead Liverpool into the Champions League.

The Northern Irishman is currently hoping to take Scottish champions Celtic into the group stage for the second season running.

The Glasgow giants have beaten Linfield and Rosenborg to make it to a playoff against Astana of Kazakhstan, who visit Celtic Park for the first leg tomorrow.

Celtic beat Astana 3-2 on aggre- gate in the third qualifying round last season with Leigh Griffiths scoring twice in the tie and Moussa Dembele’s late penalty in the second leg taking them through.

But Dembele misses this tie with a knee injury and Griffiths has been struggling too, giving Rodgers a headache with Celtic needing a good result before the long trip to Kazakhstan for the return.

Elsewhere, Sevilla are hoping to make it back to the group stage but must overcome Turkish upstarts Istanbul Basaksehir, whose side features the likes of Gael Clichy and Emmanuel Adebayor. The standout fixture could be in Italy, where Napoli face Nice, third in France last season and who beat Ajax in the third qualifying round.

Lucien Favre’s side have lost their first two Ligue 1 matches though, and they also travel without Mario Balotelli or new signing Wesley Sneijder.

“We won’t get them back for the San Paolo. They are not ready,” said Favre.

“Wesley still needs a few days or weeks to fine-tune his preparation. All he did before joining us was work with a fitness coach in Holland.

“Mario is coming back from a hamstring injury. At best he could be on the bench.”